Tuesday, May 03, 2005

My Final Decision...
Well, I have come to the final days before competition once again this season. Just 4 days until I, along with my two remaining members of "Team Abrams" step on stage to compete at the Rockford Natural Grand Prix in Rockford, IL.(www.kevinnoble.com)- Sat. May 7th 12:30 (prejudging) and 7 pm. (finals).
We started this journey as a team of 6 but "life happened":) There are certain things that take obvious precidence over competing and for three of our team members...those priorities needed to come first in their lives;)
Sooo Karen, Janelle and I are busting our butts to win that team trophy for ALL of us!
I choreographed Janelle's routine and helped Karen with a few transitions in hers to we will all have a little bit of "Jen Abrams stage presence":))
My routine is so cute and fun this time around...very different from the very sentual, serious routine I did in Ottawa to a Sara McGlauglin song.
My routine this time around is to "Girls Just Wanna Have fun" by Cindy Lauper. Everything about the routine and my appearence is "fun" just wait:)
My husband helped me choreograph it over the weekend...we had a blast! He emptied out the family room and I put on the suit I made for the show;) and he videoed so I could see it for myself. What a guy I tell ya! He has such an eye for what looks good on me! Any of you coming to the show will understand when you see the routine. Then Alyssa joined in the fun and did her own routine;))
And yet as exciting as all of this is there is the reality of what dieting and training for competion "really" entails....not only for me, but for my family as well.
Which bring me to the title of this post....
As the strain of competition dieting weighs heavy on my body, the strain is also starting to show in our household. I just can't do everything to be ready to compete and take care of everything that needs to be done at home and for my weekly personal training clients. I have come to this decision rather quickly actually...it is very logical and really intails just a postponement of one of my national competitions for the season.
After competing this weekend in Rockford (my 2nd regional show of the year) I will be competing at the Jr. Nationals in Rosemont, IL as planned June 17h-18th. This show will bring my 2005 season to a close...as I am postponing my trip to New York for the Team Universe until next year.
My body as well as my family really cannot endure another 4 months of contest preparations.
Being an athlete not only means pushing past the "wall" but also means knowing when you've had enough and it's time to recover. I want to be my "best" for every competition and I just don't believe I will be.. continuing to prep all the way through the summer after preping for the past 5 months.
My family deserves a break to resume some "normalcy" once again:)
This is a possitive decison and I feel good about it! I plan to do my best this weekend and then take things to my limit for my national debut this year at the Jr. Nationals. Without the trip to New York all the money I make from photo shoots at the competition can be spent on our family...our house, our necesities and even some extra ''fun" for the summer:)
So everyone, I really want to earn that overall win this weekend and make the top 5 at Jr. Nationals...then I will have achomplished everything I set out to do!
Jen:)